Kosovo Serbs Set Terms For Ending Boycott

Serbian parliamentarians in Kosovo who have been boycotting the country's institutions for more than two months on Monday signalled that they may call it off if a deal signed with Kosovo's ruling parties is honoured in full.

"The Serbian representatives held discussions with the Pristina authorities and their condition [for returning to parliaent] is that the coalition agreement be respected," said Dragan Jablanovic, a member of the Civic Initiative Srpska, the main Kosovo Serb party.

The agreement signed in December envisages the creation of a semi-autonomous Association of Serbian Municipalities, the return of Kosovo Serb refugees and a re-examination of post-war privatisations, amongst other things.

In the last general elections in Kosovo in June 2014, Srpska won nine seats in parliament and was given two ministries and the post of Deputy Prime Minister.

It pulled out in early February after a Srpska minister was sacked in a row over a busload of Serbian pilgrims that was attacked in western Kosovo.

Minister for Returns and Communities Aleksandar Jablanovic - Dragan Jablanovic's son - was axed after calling the locals in Gjakova who threw stones at the bus "savages".

The stone-throwers claimed that some of the pilgrims were guilty of crimes against the local population in the Kosovo conflict of the 1990s. The minister's description of them as "savages" sparked violent protests.

"A solution regarding cooperation with the Pristina authorities has to be found, but we also need a guarantee that tomorrow someone won't get harassed again," Dragan Jablanovic said.

"If he [Aleksandar] did something wrong, the government has to initiate some sort of measures, political or moral responsibility, and not have measures...